‘I've been there. It gets better.’

Video Transcript

Chase Budurka:

"Don't let the negativity shine through. It might feel like that next bag of chemo is going to make you feel worse than the previous. I've been there. It gets better."

During his freshman year in college, Chase, a tech-savvy soccer enthusiast, had a game plan. And it didn't involve cancer.

Chase: "Like your typical college freshman, I was at Starbucks, the closest one I could get to, studying from the beginning of the day and drinking coffee until I was done. And then that's when I was playing indoor soccer over the winter and started having an ankle pain. Wound up going to the doctor, and it kind of, it all went from there."

After being referred to Cincinnati Children's for further testing, a biopsy of his shin revealed that Chase had blood cancer. A diffuse large b-cell lymphoma in his right shin bone.

Chase: "I started treatment on a Tuesday, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As soon as that last bag was done, I got my blood count shot, Neupogen, to get my counts back up. And then as soon as they got to the point I could go home, I got to go home three to five days after treatment had stopped, try to regain some normalcy for five more, seven more days, and then go back and do it all over again for five rounds."

After five months of treatment, and with support from his family and friends, Chase was ready to get back to it. Whatever "it" would be.

Chase: "I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And I started working for Apple and decided to put college on hold because that's kind of the way the world shifted at that point in time. I'm kind of shocked that that's how my life was gonna turn out, but Apple was my end goal from the beginning and didn't know that's the path I'd take to get there."

With mind over matter, Chase has overcome so much and continues to keep a positive outlook while pursuing his passions and inspiring many, both on and off the field. He is currently being treated at the Cancer Survivorship Center.

Chase: "I started over here on this practice field as a player, attended the halls of this school and coached as soon as I got back on my feet, got settled into Apple, I was right back on the soccer field because that's my passion. I now get to give my experiences back to others. Having that influence on those littler kids that I get to work with through the foundation like Dragonfly. So really just being an advocate and a champion for different programs that might help someone that's in a position that I have unfortunately but fortunately been in, is kind of where I'm at in life. Really just being that light in the community."